RD DB?

I can’t get over the argument that humans are, in some form or another, superior to animals. Norma tells John that a squirrel’s “world view comprises acorns and trees and weather and cats and dogs and automobiles… There’s no more.” (92) This point seems incredibly simplistic and arrogant.

To begin with every earthling has its own niche. They contribute to other species’ existences, who, in turn, contribute to others. Whether or not we feel various species’ roles in these mutual relationships are substandard we should still respect them. We should respect their lives, their contribution to the global ecosystem, and, most importantly, their role as the main course of our meals.

Also, in previous class discussions people have brought up the point that, in the wild, a predator kills its prey gruesomely- we’re just doing the same thing; it’s natural. I don’t believe, under any circumstances, can one compare these two situations. When a lion takes down a gazelle, it snaps the neck. It doesn’t chew off the horns and tail; it doesn’t make a point of letting it bleed slowly so it’ll taste better. There are certain things we do at food mills that are unacceptable, and, while the killing of animals is “necessary” for our survival, our methods aren’t. There is no reason animals’ “Will (should) stand stunned and numb” (763H) from months of living in revolting conditions.

As Smuts says in his essay, “when a human being relates to an individual nonhuman being as an anonymous object, rather than as a being with its own subjectivity, it is the human, and not the other animal, who relinquishes personhood.” (759) How can we claim moral and intellectual superiority when, in completely disregarding other species’ lives, we employ such inhuman methods of killing?

Moreover (and here I get a bit radical), how can we be a superior species when we enable and condone so much destruction in the world? I don’t see other species trafficking their young and starting wars (however primordial they would be). We are selfish beings that will not exercise a bit of self restraint. One may argue that animals are selfish as well, and I’d agree. However, at least animals know when to stop.

To get back to my original point, we owe animals our respect. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t kill them for food- it simply means that we should be compassionate about it. We don’t need “matadors or deer hunters armed with bows and arrows” to provide the world with its main protein source- “you do not feed four billion people” this way. (97) We need some major overhauls- we need regulation and standards. I don’t understand how people can spout “this is the way the world is” when we are capable of changing our current standards.